Electricity Access and Health Behavior Before and During COVID-19 in Sierra Leone

This Energy Insight focuses on Sierra Leone, where just 2.5% of the rural population have access to electricity

Abstract

This Energy Insight focuses on Sierra Leone, where just 2.5% of the rural population have access to electricity. Sierra Leone recorded its 铿乺st COVID-19 case on 30 March 2020, and has since seen a steady increase in cases. Using data on patient visits collected from health clinic registers, we see that, over time, reported health seeking increases, both in electri铿乪d and non-electri铿乪d clinics. In addition, the pre-COVID-19 utilization gap almost disappears for diverse types of visits. In all, the data suggests that electri铿乧ation increases clinic quality and thus utilisation.

This research is part of the Energy and Economic Growth (EGG) Programme.

Citation

Niccol贸 Meriggi, A. Mushfiq Mobarak, Maarten Voors (2021) Electricity Access and Health Behavior Before and During COVID-19 in Sierra Leone. Energy and Economic Growth (EGG) Programme

Updates to this page

Published 1 September 2021